


Alive Ahaha..Fuck

by azbear



Series: Let the children in Black Friday be happy [1]
Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Anxiety, Dyslexic Ethan Green, Ethan Green Lives, F/M, Help, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Medical Inaccuracies, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Temporary Character Death, lmao i keep adding tags sorry, uh idk man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:06:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24484003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azbear/pseuds/azbear
Summary: Ethan Green wakes up hours after being attacked at the Cineplex. He has to find Lex and Hannah and get them to California.I just want Ethan Green to be happy. But I fear I must hurt him first. Sorrynotsorry.
Relationships: Becky Barnes/Tom Houston, Lex Foster/Ethan Green, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Series: Let the children in Black Friday be happy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1774084
Comments: 13
Kudos: 43





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> ya'll full disclosure: idk where i'm going with this. came up with this at 3am last night, so here you go. this prologue chapter is just that one scene at cineplex, but i'm posting the first actual chapter in a sec so
> 
> me: i love ethan, i want him to be happy!  
> also me: the torture tango

“Hey, what’s going on here?”

_ Shit. _ “Nothing. I’m just asking him a question,” Ethan pulls the kid–he vaguely remembers his name being something like Jake–close, hoping to convince the security guard he isn’t lying. He can’t go to jail now! He had just turned 18, so if he gets arrested that’s where he would go, but he can’t! He has to get Lex and Hannah to California! This security guard isn’t stupid, however and he can see straight through him. It doesn’t help that Ethan has gotten in trouble with this same man before. Ethan can see Hannah starting to panic when the guard starts to drag him away.

“What’s going on at ToyZone? Ah, shit. You kids get outta here!” He releases his grip on Ethan and takes off. Thank god.

Ethan looks over at Hannah as she goes to sit on a bench. She looks anxious. More anxious than usual. He’s not great at dealing with Hannah’s anxiety. He usually just makes it worse! Lex told him he should try distracting her from what’s upsetting her, so that’s what he’ll do. Well, he’ll try.

“Don’t do it. Two doors, not one.”

“I’m sorry, Hannah,” Ethan says, walking over to her. He decides not to address whatever crazy shit that was that just came out of her mouth. “I thought I could get us in! I woulda shelled out for the tickets, I’m just a little low on funds at the moment.” Ethan sits next to the child and tells her about spending $1,000 on his shitty car. She doesn’t look any better when he asks her not to tell Lex about that.

“Hey, what’s shakin’, banana? You okay?” He asks. That used to make her laugh when she was younger. Now Hannah just looks up at him and shakes her head. She starts talking about  _ Black and White _ . Ethan has heard her mention it before, but he doesn’t know what it means. Lex has never been able to shed much light on it either. 

Well. Distracting Hannah didn’t work, so it’s time to try confronting her anxiety. Hannah listens to him talk, not once interrupting. 

“No matter how bad things look right now, things will get better,” Ethan finishes his little speech, feeling good about himself. He thinks he did a good job with that speech! Lex would be proud if she heard it. 

“Not better. Badder. Much badder.”

Well. He tried. “Hey, what’s with that grammar? Even I know it’s ‘more bad’.” Ethan waits for her to glare at him like he does when someone corrects his grammar, but nothing. He opens his mouth to say something–he doesn’t know what, but something–but gets cut off by some crazy-looking guy running into the cineplex. 

“I think we’d better split, Banana,” Ethan says, standing up. He doesn’t know what this guy will do to them. He can’t let Hannah get hurt. Ethan starts to leave with Hannah, when he notices the man’s eyes look...weird. He can’t explain how; they’re just weird. “Hey, you okay, man?” He asks, only to get punched in the face and the stomach. Fuck, that hurt.

Another man holds him from behind to allow the first man to pummel him easier. Ethan has been in fights before. He knows how to defend himself. But Hannah has never seen him during a fight, and he doesn’t want her to, either. Plus, what if these guys decide to target her next?! No.

“Hannah, get out of here!” He yells to her to hide in the kiddie tunnels. He’ll come find her later. He will. He won’t leave her alone. He won’t.

One of the two guys knocks Ethan to the floor and they both proceed to kick the shit out of him.  _ Fuck!  _ Of all the fights he’d ever been in, he never experienced this much pain.

Finally, after what feels like hours, the two stop. Ethan doesn’t try to move. They probably think he’s dead and if they find out he’s not they'll just kick him more. God, his head hurts! And his ribs, and his wrist, and everything else too!

“He doesn’t even have a doll!” He hears one of the men say. “What a waste of time!”

All of that for a doll? Seriously? Ethan struggles not to pass out. Now that the men who beat him are gone he has to get up. He has to get to Hannah. And then they need to find Lex and get the  _ fuck _ out of Hatchetfield. He heard Mr. Houston’s voice before. He can help him. He can help him find Hannah and Lex.

“Ethan!” Mr. Houston drops to the ground beside him and helps Ethan sit up a bit.

Now Ethan can see the other person with him. But his vision is getting more and more blurry. He can’t tell who it–oh, it’s Lex! Lex is there! Ethan isn’t so sure he’s going to make it anymore. No. He has to!

“Lex,” he says, “I’ll get you to California, Lex. Then you don’t gotta cry so much no more.” He offers her a weak smile before she finally fades out and then everything is black.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan wakes up and goes looking for Lex and Hannah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda happy right? (: will it last? who's to say?

Ethan gasps as he opens his eyes. He’s still in the Cineplex, but now he’s alone.  _ Lex. _ He has to go find her and Hannah. Please let them be okay….

Grunting, Ethan gets to his feet. Everything hurts, but he doesn’t care. He needs to get to them. Ethan limps out of the Cineplex, using the wall to support himself.  _ Christ _ . It looks like a tornado went through this place! Things are turned over, trash is everywhere, glass is broken, and...that’s a lot of blood. Ethan gulps and continues towards Marshalls. It’s as good a place to start looking as any. Hopefully Hannah is still there.

Marshalls is on the other side of the mall. Walking the 10 feet he’s done so far has been excruciating for Ethan. No doubt about it: his ankle has to be broken. Ethan knows the only reason he’s even able to walk on it is his need to get to Lex and Hannah.

Halfway to Marshalls Ethan can smell smoke.  _ Those crazy fuckers set this place on fire?! _ Now he really needs to get to his girlfriend and her little sister. Ethan moves faster than he should, almost running now on his fucked up ankle. He freezes when he sees a group of people heading towards him.

_ Oh god, no! Not again! _ Ethan ducks behind a nearby trash can, praying they don’t see him. Ethan squints as they get closer. He recognizes that flannel. Hannah was wearing that today. And Lex is there too! And Mr. Houston and another woman!

“Lex! Hannah!” He tries to get to his feet, but his body doesn’t like that idea and he falls to the floor, wincing in pain.

“Ethan!” Lex runs to him and hugs him. It hurts, but Ethan doesn’t care. He’s just so happy she and Hannah are okay!

“I thought you were dead,” the woman whispers, shaking her head in disbelief. 

“Ethan, can you walk?” Mr. Houston asks, kneeling beside him.

Ethan shakes his head. “I think my ankle’s broke,” he admits.

“We’ve gotta get out of here,” Mr. Houston says. “I’ll help you. Becky,” he points to the woman, “is a nurse. She can take care of you once we’re somewhere safe.”

Mr. Houston and Lex get on either side of Ethan and help him to his feet.

“Ethan?” Hannah asks, almost like she doesn’t believe it’s really him.

Ethan smiles painfully at her. “It’s me, Banana.”

Hannah rushes forward and hugs him tight. He grunts, but places a hand on her shoulder. “You were dead! Webby said so!”

“You think a little thing like death can keep me down?” He laughs weakly. “I’ll always be there for you and your sister, Hannah. Promise.”

Hannah gives him a small smile and lets go. The group make their way out of the mall together.

They stand across the street and watch the mall go up in flames as they try to come up with some place to go. None of their phones are working, so they can’t find somewhere safe to go. 

A car honking its horn startles Ethan and he pulls Lex and Hannah closer to protect them. 

“Tom! Tom, oh my god, you’re alive!” Some woman runs out of the car, followed by presumably her boyfriend and over to Mr. Houston.

“Emma? Pat?”

“Paul,” the guy corrects.

Ethan relaxes. Mr. Houston doesn’t seem freaked out by these two, so they’re probably safe.

“I’m sorry I lost your hat,” Hannah suddenly says.

Ethan looks down at her, finally noticing his hat was missing. “It’s alright, Hannah. Things get lost.”

“Hey, kids,” Tom says, crouching in front of the three. “This is my sister-in-law, Emma and her, uh, Paul.” Tom glances back at Paul, who purses his lips. “We’re going to go to Emma’s professor’s house. We can get you fixed up there, Ethan. Stay here with Emma and Paul while Becky and I go get her car. We’ll be back.”

Ethan nods. “Thanks, Mr. Houston.”

“No problem, kid.”


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mention of drugs and alcohol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wasn't going to post this yet, but i wanted to so. here.  
> i think i'm going to post new chapters every monday, but honestly who knows how long that will last? 
> 
> is it just me or can anybody else just not picture ethan and hidgens in the same room? i try and my brain just goes all blue screen. (excuse me if that doesn't make sense, it's 2:30am)

Ethan is fighting not to fall asleep in the back seat of Becky’s car. Lex has to poke him every few minutes to wake him up. Becky said he has a concussion and shouldn’t go to sleep just yet, but it’s hard. He’s tired and in so much pain! 

“We’re here,” Becky announces, looking in the back seat.

Ethan looks up at the house, nervously. What if the professor won’t help them? Where else could they go? They passed the hospital on the way there and there were hundreds of cars there; people were outside everywhere breaking stuff and setting things on fire. They’re lucky they weren’t followed! Ethan still isn’t entirely convinced that they weren’t.

Mr. Houston and Lex help him out of the car and they follow Emma to the gate.

“Who is it?!” comes a voice through the intercom.

“Professor Hidgens!” Emma exclaims, clearly relieved to hear her professor.

“Don’t lie to me, whoever you are! I’m Professor Hidgens!” 

Ethan raises an eyebrow. “This guy is a professor?”

Emma glares at him while Lex and Mr. Houston both laugh.

“No, it’s Emma Perkins. Look, everyone has gone crazy and I don’t know where else to go!”

“Emma! Come in! ALEXA, open the gates!” The gates swing open and Emma leads them inside.

The professor takes one look at Ethan and hurries to take Lex’s place holding him up. “What happened to him?” he demands, looking to the other adults.

“Some crazy bastards beat me up at the mall,” Ethan explains. “They were looking for some doll. I...I think I was dead.” He looks over at Becky, who looks extremely guilty, though he can’t guess why. 

“The hospital is crowded, or we’d take him there,” Mr. Houston says. “Becky’s a nurse. She can help him, we just need some place safe and at least kind of clean.”

“We’ll take him to one of the guest bedrooms. I have first aid stuff in the basement,” the professor says, leading them to the bedroom.

“Hannah, stay here,” Lex tells her sister. “I’m going with Ethan.”

Ethan can hear Hannah start to argue, then stop with a sigh. Lex catches up to them quickly.

“Is he going to be okay?” She asks Becky.

“I’m going to take care of him to the best of my ability,” she promises. “It depends on what equipment Professor Hidgens has how well I can fix him up….”

“Oh, I think you’ll find everything you need,” Hidgens tells her. “For the past 27 years I have been stockpiling the bare essentials needed for human survival in the events of a world ending cataclysm!”

The four exchange looks, wondering if this guy is really crazy.

“Why?” Lex asks.

Hidgens launches into an explanation, but Ethan doesn’t care enough to listen. They’re finally in the spare bedroom and the two men helping him set him on the bed. Becky and Mr. Houston help him put his legs up and lean back against the pillows. Fuck, his ankle really hurts after all that walking!

“Ethan, are you allergic to anything?” Hidgens asks him.

“He’s only allergic to peanuts,” Lex says.

“Have you done any drugs or had alcohol in the past 24 hours?” Becky asks next.

Ethan looks around at all the adults in the room.

“Hey, it’s okay if you did,” Mr. Houston tells him and squeezes his shoulder. “No one will be mad. We just need to know because some medications can hurt you combined with certain drugs and alcohol.”

“I, uh, smoked some weed last night, but that’s it! I’ve been with Hannah since this morning and I don’t do that crap around her.”

“Becky, come with me to get whatever supplies you need,” Hidgens says, leading her out.

“You’re gonna be okay, Ethan,” Lex promises, squeezing her boyfriend’s hand tightly.

Ethan gives her a smile and squeezes her hand back. Becky and the professor will fix him up and he’ll be able to take Lex and Hannah to California soon.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan wakes up and is high due to pain medication.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so like. i was gonna wait until monday, but i just finished the fic and i don't wanna wait so fuck it. i'm posting it all now
> 
> note: idk medical stuff. all i have to go off of for medical stuff is House MD, which...is probably not great to use for reference, but oh well

Ethan wakes to a warm body pressed against his. He looks over and smiles upon seeing Lex curled up against him. Hannah and Tim are asleep on the floor nearby and Mr. Houston is sitting in the armchair next to the bed watching them all while dozing. 

“Ethan!” Mr. Houston pours water into a cup and helps Ethan drink before asking how he feels.

“Hm, good,” he slurs. “ _ Real _ good, Mr. Houston.”

“Yeah, Henry found some morphine for you. You’ll be a little loopy for a bit, but you’re okay.”

“Henry?” Ethan doesn’t remember a Henry being with them before….

“Professor Hidgens,” Mr. Houston clarifies. “I’m going to go get Becky. Don’t move.”

Ethan wiggles the fingers on his left hand, smirking. Mr. Houston rolls his eyes, but smiles as he does. 

He and Becky return within a minute.

“Hey, Ethan,” Becky sits next to the teenager on the bed and presses the back of her hand against his forehead. “How are you feeling?”

“High.”

Becky nods. Sounds about right. She grabs the thermometer from off the nightstand. “Open,” she commands and slips the thermometer under Ethan’s tongue. “We don’t have an x-ray machine here, but I’m 100 percent certain your right ankle is broken. Your ribs on your right side are bruised and possibly cracked or broken, and your right wrist is likely just fractured. You have a slight fever, so I think you have a bit of an infection. We can’t find out what kind in here, but the medication we gave you earlier seems to be helping. Your fever is down a whole degree!”

Ethan blinks at her. That means nothing to him right now. He’s going to be miserable when this morphine wears off, but now he’s fine. More importantly, he’s  _ alive _ . “Alright, Ethan,” Becky starts. She can see that Ethan doesn’t care right now, and she can’t make him care. “Get some more rest. I’ll check on you later.”

Ethan hums and cuddles Lex. “Thanks for your help, Becky,” he says as she leaves.

“Of course, Ethan,” Becky smiles softly. “Go to sleep now.”


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan just wants some eggs and toast.
> 
> WARNING: panic attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is kinda silly (kinda)  
> enjoy

Ethan wakes up again much later. He can tell the morphine has worn off now. He winces as he sits up and looks around the room. Lex, Hannah, Mr. Houston, Tim...they’re all gone now. Where are they? Did something happen to them?

Ethan can feel his heart start to beat faster and suddenly he can’t breathe.  _ This is just like what happened at the Cineplex!  _ He thought.  _ Am I dying again? I can’t! I have to find Lex and Hannah! They need me! ...Don’t they? _

“Ethan! You’re okay, just breathe.”

_ Mr. Houston? When did he get here? _

Tom sits next to the teenager on the bed and places his hand over his heart. “Breathe, kid. Lex is here too. We’re all safe now.”

Lex holds Ethan’s other hand. “I’m here, Ethan,” she reassures.

It takes a few minutes of Tom leading Ethan through breathing exercises for him to calm down. Once he’s calm he falls into Lex and hugs her tightly. He thought he’d lost her again.

“What...what was that?” Ethan asks, finally looking up at Mr. Houston. “It was like I was dying! I couldn’t breathe and….” Ethan trails off, not wanting to admit that he was scared. He’s not supposed to get scared. He has to be strong for Lex.

“You had a panic attack, Ethan,” Mr. Houston explains.

Well. Fuck.

“What do you think set it off?” Lex wonders aloud. She doesn’t want her boyfriend to have to go through that again, so if she knows what triggered it she can try to keep him away from those triggers.

Ethan shrugs in response. He’s pretty sure it happened because he woke up alone, but he can’t tell Lex that! He doesn’t want to seem clingy. She already has Hannah to take care of; Lex doesn’t need another child too.

“We all went through hell yesterday,” Mr. Houston begins. “It’s a lot: waking up in pain after...all that happened to you, Ethan. We’re here for you, kid.”

The three sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Ethan’s stomach growls.

“What time is it?” He asks.

Mr. Houston looks at his watch. “5:18.”

Ethan frowns. “At night?” He waits for a nod of confirmation. “Shit. I slept 13 hours?”

“You needed it,” Lex tells him. “Hannah just woke up a few hours ago too. I’ll go find you something to eat, then you should go back to sleep.” Lex starts to stand, but stops when Ethan grabs her wrist, forcing her to stay.

“I’m sick of being in bed,” he says when she looks at him questioningly. “I can rest on the couch.” That way he can stay with Lex and be with Hannah too. He wants to make sure she’s okay anyway.

“You shouldn’t be walking, Ethan. You’re ankle is already fucked up from all the walking you did yesterday. You need to rest it.”

“Mr. Houston can help me! I’ll just hop on my good foot.”

“And hurt your ribs doing that,” Mr. Houston shakes his head. Ethan gives the man his best puppy-dog eyes. The only one who could ever say no when he does this is Lex. He doesn’t want to stay alone in this room anymore! “Fine,” Mr. Houston finally agrees. “But after you eat something, you’re coming back to bed.” Ethan beams up at him and nods in agreement. “Just be careful. Lex, get on his other side.”

Lex sighs. She hates when Ethan does that face because it gets him whatever he wants. It takes a surprising amount of strength for her to say no when he tries to use it against her, but she manages. Mr. Houston has a kid, though! Shouldn’t he be immune to puppy eyes? 

“Why is he out of bed?” Becky demands when they get Ethan to the living room.

“He wanted to come hang out,” Mr. Houston tells her. “Hey, Henry, what do you have that he can eat?”

Hidgens places a pillow on the coffee table for Ethan to rest his ankle on. “Again, I have everything. What do you want, kid?”

“Toast. And some scrambled eggs?” 

“I’ll go make it,” Lex volunteers. Ethan likes his toast prepared very specifically–toasted until it’s just about to burn and a little butter with a lot of strawberry jam. If it’s toasted any less or if it’s burnt or has too much butter he won’t eat it and he hates any other flavor of jam on toast. Luckily she had made Hannah and Tim peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch earlier, so she knows there’s strawberry jam in the fridge.

Ethan holds onto his girlfriend’s hand with wide eyes. He thought he would be okay with her just going to the kitchen, but the thought of not being able to see her is suddenly making him anxious again. Fuck.

Lex can feel her heart break as she looks at her boyfriend. “Actually, Mr. Houston, would you make it for him?” Her old teacher nods and walks to the kitchen, so she sits next to Ethan and wraps an arm around him. She really needs to talk to him about yesterday. Preferably not in front of all these people, though. It’s none of their business. 

Hannah silently gets up from where she was reading a book and sits next to her sister and Ethan.

“Hey, Banana,” Ethan smiles and reaches for her hand. Hannah lets him take it. “You okay?”

She squeezes his hand and nods. “Okay.” Webby told her she shouldn’t worry Ethan while he’s healing. Besides. She is okay. For now, at least.

Hannah and Ethan both lay their heads against Lex, causing her to ask them if they think she’s a pillow.

“Pillows don’t talk, Lexie,” Hannah says. Lex smiles at her sister.

“How are you feeling, Ethan?” Becky asks, walking over to the three kids on the couch. She holds a thermometer up to Ethan’s mouth.

Ethan shrugs and sticks it under his tongue. “Everything hurts,” he complains after the thermometer is out. 

“Your fever isn’t any lower, but it’s not getting higher, either,” Becky muses. “I’ll be right back with your medicine. And a painkiller.”

Mr. Houston comes in with Ethan’s food as he’s swallowing his pills.

Ethan frowns at the toast. It’s only lightly toasted and there’s way too much butter on it! He doesn’t want to say anything about it and hurt Mr. Houston’s feelings, though, so he just eats the eggs.

“You don’t like the toast?” Mr. Houston asks when he sees Ethan isn’t eating it.

“I’ll eat it if he doesn’t want it!” Tim volunteers.

“I swear you’re like a bottomless pit,” Mr. Houston says to his son, chuckling. “Ethan? Do you not want it?”

Ethan shrugs and his face heats up. “Ethan likes his toast really dark and only a little butter and a lot of jam,” Lex says. “Hannah, you know how he likes it! Do you want to make it for him?” Hannah nods and goes to stand, but Ethan shakes his head and reaches for her, but stops himself from grabbing her and upsetting her. The last time she left him he died. He still doesn’t know what happened to her yesterday, but he can’t imagine it was anything good.

Hidgens suddenly stands up from where he was absorbed in a book and furiously scribbling into a notebook. “Clearly nobody here knows how to properly make toast! I’ll do it.”

Ethan hides his face in Lex’s hair, embarrassed by the attention he’s receiving.

Lex glares at everyone until they go back to minding their own business. She turns to Hannah to talk to her and give Ethan a moment to himself.

Hidgens returns after a few minutes with a plate of toast. The toast is a little too dark, but not terribly so. Ethan will take it. The professor brought the butter and jam with him as well as a knife so Ethan could prepare it how he likes.

“Thank you, sir,” he says, smiling shyly.

“Of course. Now, Hannah. Tell me more about Webby.” He had been trying to figure out what had happened yesterday and why since the group arrived at his house. He seemed to think Hannah was the best person to talk to about it, but nobody could really guess why. Ethan has no idea what Hannah’s imaginary friend has to do with a bunch of people suddenly going nuts and killing each other (and him), but he’s too tired to ask questions.

Before he can bite into his toast, Paul nervously walks over to the couch. “How are you doing, Ethan?” He asks.

Ethan frowns. He doesn’t know this guy. Why does he care about how he’s doing? “I’m fine.”

“Good! Good. I was worried when you woke up and wouldn’t respond to me.”

Ethan furrows his brows. What? Paul wasn’t even there! Was he?

“Paul was sitting with you so you wouldn’t wake up alone,” Lex explains. “He got Mr. Houston and I when you weren’t responding to him.”

“I didn’t even notice you were there,” Ethan says. “It was like everything went dark; I couldn’t…” Ethan trails off, feeling himself get worked up again. He’d like to never have another panic attack again, please and thank you.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay now.”

Ethan nods. “Thanks for tryin’ to help. And getting Lex and Mr. Houston.”

Paul smiles and goes back to Emma. Ethan finally eats his toast before falling asleep with his head on Lex’s shoulder.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These fucks finally talk about shit  
> WARNING: again, panic attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is kinda serious, but silly at times, so. these kids are soft and (almost) happy

Lex is very hesitant about leaving Ethan alone in their shared room at Hidgens’s house. She doesn’t want him to wake up without somebody he trusts again, but she’s the only one awake right now. Hidgens wants to talk to her about what happened at the mall. He thinks he has some ideas about what happened from the few answers he got from Hannah. He’s able to understand her answers surprisingly well! Strangers usually can’t understand her sister that easily. Hell, even Ethan can’t always understand her and he was there when she was learning to talk!

Maybe Lex should wake her boyfriend up…. No. He needs to rest. Lex presses a kiss to his cheek before leaving. She leaves the door open a crack in case he wakes up so somebody can hear him. She should really get someone to stay with him, but it’s 5AM and she doesn’t want to wake anyone up. The only reason she’s up is because she wanted a cigarette! Hidgens saw her when she was outside and asked to talk. She agreed, but now she wishes she had asked to wait until her boyfriend wakes up later. Hopefully talking to Hidgens won’t take long. Hopefully Ethan doesn’t wake up until she gets back….

Wishful thinking.

Tim rushes into Hidgens’s lab to tell Lex that Ethan is having another panic attack. He’d gotten up to go to the bathroom and heard crying. He woke Hannah up and Hannah told him to get Lex.

When Lex finally gets to Ethan she sees him clinging to Hannah, who looks extremely uncomfortable being held so tightly.

“I’m here, Ethan,” Lex soothes, gently prying him away from her sister. He immediately wraps his arms around her instead. “You’re okay, babe. We’re safe now.” She guides him through the breathing exercises Mr. Houston had done with him yesterday. 

It takes a few minutes for him to stop hyperventilating. Lex holds him the whole time. Hannah keeps her hand on his knee.

Once he’s calm, Ethan looks up at Lex and whispers, “sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, Eth. It’s not your fault you had a panic attack.”

_ But I’m supposed to be strong for you and Hannah, _ he thinks.  _ It’s the least I can do while I can’t walk. _

“Babe, talk to me. I can’t help you if you don’t. You know why you’re having panic attacks, don’t you? Or you have a guess?”

Ethan shrugs. He glances at Hannah. He knows he’s not going to get out of talking about this with Lex, but he doesn’t want Hannah to hear and think differently of him. He just hopes Lex won’t decide to break up with him after he tells her. Who wants to date someone who can’t be away from them without having a panic attack?

“Are you hungry, Banana?” Lex asks. Hannah isn’t, but she can tell that Ethan is uncomfortable with her being there for the conversation about to happen, so she nods anyway. If anything important comes up she knows Lex will tell her later. “Why don’t you go ask Professor Hidgens to help you make some pancakes for us all? Maybe Tim can help too.”

Hannah agrees and walks out of the bedroom to find Tim and the professor.

Lex leans against the headboard with Ethan and holds him tight. “You gotta talk to me, babe,” she says into his hair. She presses a kiss to his head, then looks at his face. It’s rare that they get moments to sit like this together, but she loves it every time they do. She knows Ethan loves it too.

Ethan’s eyes are filled with both love and sadness as he looks at his girlfriend. “I love you,” he says. They’ve only told each other that a handful of times. They both knew they loved each other, so they didn’t need to say it. But Ethan thinks this may be the last time he gets to tell her. Even if it’s not, when did he last tell her? He has no idea. He died two days ago. He’s extremely thankful that he came back, but it made him realize that anything can happen to any of them at any time. He doesn’t want him or Lex or Hannah to die without him telling them he loves them all, so he’ll say it at every chance he gets.

“I love you too, babe. Don’t try to get out of this, though.”

Ethan sighs. “I’m not really sure why I’m having the panic attacks, but they only happen when I wake up without you or Hannah or Mr. Houston nearby…. When I–when I woke up at the mall I was alone. I wasn’t even sure I was really alive until you and Hannah hugged me. I mean, I’m sure when you’re dead you don’t feel pain or smell smoke like I did, but I don’t know how it works for ghosts. Every time I wake up without you guys I feel…,” Ethan is sure Lex knows he’s scared, so he may as well just admit it, “I feel scared. It’s like I’m waking up at the mall alone again.   
I’m sorry, Lex. I’m not s’posed to feel like this. I’m s’posed to be strong for you and Hannah, but I just–it’s hard now. I can’t help it.”

“Who the fuck said you’re not supposed to? Who said you have to be strong for us? I didn’t. I don’t think Hannah did, either. Where did you get that idea from?” Lex is honestly hurt that he felt like he couldn’t talk to her because he’s apparently supposed to be strong or whatever.

“I...Lex–”

“Ethan, you’re allowed to be scared. You don’t have to be strong either. Just being here is good enough. Nobody expects you to be like Superman. I don’t want you to be Superman. Neither does Hannah. We don’t love Superman; we love  _ you _ .” Ethan gives her a watery smile. “You know you can talk to me whenever you need, right?” She has to make sure he knows. “I want you to talk to me about anything on your mind.”

“I know. I will, babe. I love you so much.”

The two share a kiss, only breaking away when there’s a knock on the door. Hidgens opens it. “Breakfast is ready. Are you two ready or should I leave you alone?”

“I think we’re ready,” Lex says. Ethan nods. “Will you help me get Ethan to the couch?”

Hidgens saunters over and holds Ethan up. The three walk to the couch and set Ethan down. Hidgens places a plate of chocolate chip pancakes on Ethan’s lap. Hannah and Tim have already dug into their plates and their faces are chocolatey syrupy messes.

“Thanks for breakfast, guys!” Lex says to the children.

“Hannah taught me how to make pancakes!” Tim exclaims. “And Professor Hidgens let us put chocolate chips in them! So now I can make them for my dad when we go home!”

Lex and Ethan both smile. “That’s great, Tim. I’m sure your dad will love that!”

Mr. Houston and Becky come out of their room as everyone is finishing their breakfast.

“Where’s our pancakes?” Mr. Houston teases.

“You snooze, you lose,” Lex says, smiling. 

“It’s 6:30. Shouldn’t you kids still be sleeping?”

“No, because then we wouldn’t have pancakes,” Tim tells his father. Hannah nods in agreement. 

Mr. Houston sits on the floor to play with the kids while Becky checks over Ethan’s injuries and checks his temperature again.

“Can I have coffee now?” Ethan asks after the thermometer is out. He’s been drinking coffee every day since he was 13. He started drinking it with Lex and at first it was disgusting. Now he needs it like he needs water. He hasn’t had any since Thursday morning and it’s Saturday now!

“No. I want you to go back to sleep soon. You need to rest, Ethan. Your body is still fighting off an infection. How about some hot chocolate instead?”

Ethan pouts. “Fine.” At least hot chocolate has  _ some _ caffeine in it, however little.

“Why don’t you go back to your room and I’ll bring it to you when it’s done?”

Lex agrees with her and asks Hidgens for help again. Hannah follows them to bed and curls up against Lex’s left side while Ethan curls against her right.

“Hey, you okay, Banana?” Ethan asks. “You’re not usually this quiet around me.” It’s not like her to be so quiet for so long. Even on a bad day she’ll tell him why it’s bad. Sometimes she’ll tell him even if he doesn’t ask. He knows she went through hell too, but she’s barely said two sentences to him since they all found each other at the mall.

“Okay.”

“Then why won’t you look at me?”

Hannah looks up and Ethan can see the anxiety in her eyes. It hurts him to see. Maybe he shouldn’t be pushing, but he knows something’s up with her. At least Lex is here to stop him if he pushes too hard.

“Bad double,” Hannah mutters. She knows this is the real Ethan–Webby said so and Webby never lies–but she’s been having nightmares about the Ethan she saw at the mall.

Ethan frowns, trying to make sense of that. Lex looks confused too. “You’re gonna have to give me a little more to go off of, Hannah.”

Hannah is quiet for a minute and Ethan almost thinks she’s done talking about this, but then she says, “Saw you after you died. Bad double.”

He gulps and glances at Lex before turning his attention back to Hannah. No wonder Hannah doesn’t want to look at him or talk to him. “What did the fake me say?”

“Said to give Wiggly to a lady in a black cape. Knew it wasn’t you. You wouldn’t make me give it to her.”

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Hannah. But I’m really me. I promise. I’ll be here to protect you for a long time, and I won’t let any freaky doubles try to trick you into helping start the apocalypse.”

“I know.” Hannah reaches across Lex and holds Ethan’s hand, squeezing tight. Ethan smiles and squeezes back. He gently tugs on her hand until she and Lex switch places so Hannah is in the middle now. Ethan wraps his arm around Hannah’s shoulders.

“I don’t think I ever told you I love you before, huh, ‘nana?” Hannah shakes her head. Jeez. He’s awful! He’s known her for almost her entire life and never once told her that he loves her? “Well, I do.”

Hannah hums. “Ditto.”

Ethan and Lex both laugh at that.

Becky walks in then with 3 mugs of hot chocolate and marshmallows.

“Thank you!” the three say.

“You’re welcome,” she smiles, then points at Ethan. “Rest. Don’t make me put you to sleep. Hannah, it’s your job to make sure he rests, okay?” Hannah nods. She takes her job very seriously. As soon as he finishes his hot chocolate Hannah makes him lie down and reads to him until he falls asleep.


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> k this is not how this was gonna go but. i like this better than what it would have been.  
> also, there's a one shot i'm gonna post after this, i have to remember how to make a series first

Two weeks after Black Friday things are starting to go back to normal. Hatchetfield is still mostly destroyed, but people are coming together to clean and rebuild the town, something that had never happened before! Phones, TV’s, and radios still don’t work. A lot of teenagers and some adults are starting to go crazy because of it, but rebuilding the town keeps their minds off of it.

Lex, Hannah, and Ethan all move in with Mr. Houston and Tim. Becky is there everyday too, but she still has her own house by the hospital. Mr. Houston convinces Lex to enroll back in school for her last year with the promise that he goes back to being the shop teacher there. Ethan can’t go back to school yet, but he will once he’s healed more.

Once everyone decides it’s safe to leave Hidgens’s house, Tom and Becky drag Ethan to the hospital. Now he has a cast on his right foot and his right wrist is in a splint. Lucky for him, his ribs end up just being bruised. Becky took good care of him at Hidgens’s house, so they’re mostly healed. His doctor suggests he stay home another week or 2 before he starts going back to school. Ethan has no problem with that. He likes Mr. Houston’s house and he stays home with him while everyone else is at school. Ethan has been teaching him about Dungeons and Dragons so they can all play together.

Tom applies to become the legal guardian of all 3 kids while they’re living with him. He has to wait a while longer before he can finally be appointed their guardian, but at least they’re safe with him in his home.

Ethan has only had one panic attack since the day he and Lex talked about why he was having them. He woke up right after Lex got up to shower before school. After that she started waking him up before she left the room unless Hannah or Mr. Houston were sitting in the room with him.

One day they’re all sitting in Tom’s living room. Each of the kids are doing their homework with Mr. Houston helping them. Just because Ethan can’t go to school doesn’t mean he gets away with not doing any school work. Lex brings everything home to him and drops it on his lap, then kisses his cheek while he whines about having to do more work.

“I thought I was supposed to be resting! This isn’t restful!” He complains everyday. Lex tells him to suck it up and Mr. Houston reminds him to ask for help if he gets confused.

“Mr. Houston, this is stupid!” Ethan complains. “When am I ever going to need calculus?”

“Hey, mechanics use calculus sometimes. That’s what you want to be right? A mechanic?”

Ethan looks appalled. “Seriously?!”

Mr. Houston chuckles. “Show me what you’re having trouble with.”

Lex gets up to start dinner for them all. Becky will be home soon and will probably be tired. The hospital is short-staffed, due to about a fifth of the employees dying on Black Friday. Becky has long shifts, so Lex likes to make sure dinner is ready when she gets home so she can eat, then go to sleep.

When Lex looks back into the living room she sees that Hannah and Tim have both finished their homework. Hannah is reading and Tim is playing with some toys. Mr. Houston is ruffling Ethan’s hair because he finally solved the question that was giving him trouble.

Lex smiles. She goes back to them while she waits for the water to boil and kisses the top of Ethan’s hair. It doesn’t bother her and Ethan to have everyone see them be so openly affectionate. Not like it used to.

Ethan tilts his head back to look up at her with a grin on his face. “What was that for?” He asks. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Nothing. I just love you.”

“I love you too, babe.” 

Ethan and Lex share a kiss, prompting Tim to yell, “cooties!” Hannah leans over and kisses her new friend on the cheek, causing him to jump up and wipe the “icky cooties” off his cheek.

Lex laughs and feels her heart swell. Hannah feels comfortable enough to kiss and tease the boy she just met 2 weeks ago! Moving to Mr. Houston’s has been great for all of them. It’s not California, but it may even be better in some ways.

The only thing that matters is that they’re all happy and safe. No one can really ask for more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no idea if mechanics use calculus. i googled it and saw the word "yes" so i said okay good enough  
> the end (: i finally let them be happy


End file.
